NIH study: Glutamine suppresses herpes in mice and guinea pigs

Glutamine supplements can suppress reactivation of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in mice and guinea pigs, according to findings recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The research was conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

There is no cure for infection with HSV-1 and HSV2, viruses that can cause recurrent outbreaks of cold sores and genital sores in humans. Although antiviral medications can help shorten outbreaks, the virus persists in the body and can reactivate, which underscores the need for new treatment approaches. Prior research demonstrated the importance of HSV-specific T cells for controlling recurrent HSV outbreaks, and that activated T cells require increased metabolism of glutamine (an amino acid produced by the body and found in food). Therefore, the authors speculated that glutamine supplementation might increase T-cell function and improve infection control.

To test this hypothesis, scientists infected mice with HSV-1 and guinea pigs with HSV-2 and randomly assigned the animals to different treatment groups. Two weeks after infection, some animals received an oral glutamine supplement and others did not. Results showed that mice that received glutamine were less likely to have HSV-1 reactivation than those that did not, and similarly, guinea pigs that received glutamine were less likely to have recurrent outbreaks of HSV-2 than those that did not receive the supplement.

Evaluation of host cellular gene expression in mice treated with glutamine showed that several genes inducible by interferon gamma (IFN-γ) had an increased response. IFN-γ is produced by virus-specific T cells and can inhibit viral reactivation. Mice treated with glutamine also had high numbers of virus-specific T cells in infected nerve tissues. Together, the results suggest glutamine may reduce HSV reactivation by improving the T-cell response to infection. Clinical trials are needed to determine whether this novel treatment approach would effectively treat HSV in humans, according to the authors.

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Jeffrey I. Cohen, chief of NIAID’s Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, is available for comment.

NIAID conducts and supports research — at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide — to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at www.niaid.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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